UPDATE 1:37pm AEST, Friday 4 July: Andrew Frelon has admitted to faking his affiliation to the band, as The Velvet Sundown’s official Spotify bio denies any ties to the “spokesperson.” Story update available here.
A spokesperson for The Velvet Sundown has admitted the ‘band’ is a deliberate “art hoax” using generative-AI platform Suno.
The mystery surrounding viral psych-rock “band” The Velvet Sundown has finally been solved, with a spokesperson confirming the project is an AI-generated “art hoax.”
In an interview with Rolling Stone, spokesperson and self-described “adjunct” member Andrew Frelon admitted the music was created using the AI tool Suno. The revelation comes after intense internet speculation and heated debate among listeners, with many pointing to the band’s suspiciously generic music, AI-looking press photos, and hollow Spotify bio as red flags.
“It’s marketing,” Frelon told Rolling Stone. “It’s trolling. People before, they didn’t care about what we did, and now suddenly, we’re talking to Rolling Stone, so it’s like, ‘Is that wrong?’”
Initially, Frelon claimed AI was only used for brainstorming, then admitted to using Suno but “not in the final product.” During the interview, he later acknowledged that at least some of The Velvet Sundown’s songs – without specifying which – were made directly with Suno. “I don’t want to say which ones,” Frelon said. He also noted that Suno’s ‘Persona’ feature – which Timbaland has used for his AI artist TaTa – has been used for the band, although was adamant that wasn’t used on every song.
He explained the project was inspired by art hoaxes like the Leeds 13, a group of UK art students who faked photos of themselves spending scholarship money on a lavish beach trip. “We live in a world now where things that are fake have sometimes even more impact than things that are real,” Frelon said. “And that’s messed up, but that’s the reality that we face now.”
“It’s like, ‘Should we ignore that reality? Should we ignore these things that kind of exist on a continuum of real versus fake or kind of a blend between the two? Or should we dive into it and just let it be the emerging native language of the internet?” Frelon continued.
The Velvet Sundown began posting music to Spotify, Apple Music, and other music streaming platform just weeks ago, but quickly amassed over 300,000 monthly listeners on Spotify thanks to appearing on a large number of user-created playlists. That monthly listener number now sits at 750,000 – likely in part due to the internet’s fascination in how a clearly AI-generated band managed to rack up so many listeners in the first place.
Their top track, ‘Dust On The Wind,’ has more than half a million plays. When asked how the band racked up streams so quickly, Frelon suggested placement on playlists with large followings may have driven the numbers but denied knowledge of any artificial boosting. “I’m not running the Spotify backend stuff, so I can’t super speak to exactly how that happened,” he said.
“I know we got on some playlists that just have like tons of followers, and it seems to have spiralled from there.” Rolling Stone asked Frelon if him and his associates used playlists of their own to boost this, to which he replied: “I don’t have an answer that I can give to you for that because I’m not involved…and I don’t want to say something that’s not true.”
The Velvet Sundown’s social media accounts have previously denied accusations of AI involvement, decrying the “so-called ‘journalists’” pushing the “lazy, baseless theory.” The band’s X bio currently reads: “Yes, We Are A Real Band & We Never Use AI #NeverAI”
They’ve since shared cryptic posts marketing new music, saying, “They said we’re not real. Maybe you aren’t either.”
Frelon’s admission directly contradicts those earlier denials. Despite the controversy, The Velvet Sundown plans to release another album, Paper Sun Rebellion, on July 14 – their third release in just two months.
Publications have reached out to Spotify for comment on how The Velvet Sundown achieved Verified Artist status and whether the platform will update its policies on AI-generated content. As of now, Spotify has not responded.
The admission of The Velvet Sundown’s AI origins – after a bit of coaxing from Rolling Stone – highlights ongoing concerns about transparency in streaming music. Listeners are grappling with how to identify real artists in an era where artificial intelligence can (sort of) convincingly mimic human creativity – although, in the case of this and many other AI artists, a certain level of blandness to the music alongside clearly generated images and art are a pretty dead giveaway.
While some fans are intrigued by the provocative stunt, others see it as yet another obstacle for genuine musicians trying to make a living – a far assessment in an era when artists are making a pittance from streaming revenue if they make any at all.
At least this hopefully puts The Velvet Sundown debate to bed – but with increased notoriety, it’s not clear if the band will fizzle out now we know for sure they’re AI-generated, or if those huge listener numbers will stay the course.
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